Sixers embarrassed by Celtics

The 110-80 loss gives Boston coach John Carroll his 1st NBA win

February 08, 2004|By Jeff Schuler Of The Morning Call

Turns out the teacher was right.

In the wake of Thursday's convincing win over the Los Angeles Lakers, 76ers coach Randy Ayers was asked whether the win was proof that the Sixers had responded to Allen Iverson's tirade -- about this team having "no heart no toughness" -- two days earlier.

"We'll see how it carries over to Saturday night," Ayers said at the time.

Guess what, Randy? Nobody was listening.

In one of their most embarrassing displays in what's becoming a forgettable season, the Sixers fell behind by 20 points at halftime, had as many turnovers as field goals through three quarters, and basically just sleepwalked through a 110-80 setback to Boston, their worst ever loss in this building.

"Tonight, I'm just somewhat stunned about the whole thing," a weary-looking Iverson said.

"These are the teams you have to get up for and get yourself in the right frame of mind to play," Ayers said. "Especially at home."

As the Sixers had done for Lawrence Frank two weeks ago in New Jersey's first game after Frank took over the Nets, they were more than willing to gift-wrap John Carroll's first NBA victory in Carroll's sixth game since taking over the Celtics when Jim O'Brien resigned on Jan. 27.

The Sixers (21-30) committed a season-high 25 turnovers, including 15 in the first half that led to 21 of Boston's 59 points by halftime.

"Basketball is a game of mistakes, and the team that makes the fewest mistakes usually is the one that wins," Glenn Robinson said. "Right now, we're screwing up too much."

The Celtics (23-29), who had lost six straight -- including one the night before at home, when they fell to Atlanta despite forcing 29 turnovers -- hit nine of their first 10 shots from the floor while bolting to a 24-7 lead in the game's opening six minutes.

"They just came out and jumped right on us, and we were never able to recover," Iverson said.

Uh, not quite, Allen.

Boston missed seven of its next eight and the Sixers, behind Iverson and Robinson, got back within 27-23 late in the quarter. But the Celtics scored twice in the final 40 seconds of the first quarter, the start of a 10-0 run.

By halftime, it was 59-39, the most points the Sixers have given up in a half this year, and it only got worse after the break.

"As we got back into the game, we lost our concentration, which is really disappointing because I thought we had weathered the storm," Ayers said.

"We wasn't focused when we got back in the game," Robinson said. "They got everything they wanted."

The deficit grew to 30 points in the third quarter, and to a season-high 33 late in the fourth quarter.

The end result was that they went from their largest margin of victory (96-73) to their largest margin of defeat in two days.

"Like I said the other night, we come out and get a big win, and then come out and don't get it done," Robinson said. "We've got to start backing up some of these big wins we get."

"At this point, I don't know what to say," Aaron McKie added. "You can ask the same questions a million different ways, and I can use the same answers I'm just lost for words right now."

It was the Sixers' 12th loss in 18 games since a win at San Antonio on Jan. 3. Seven of those losses have been to teams with sub-.500 records.

"I don't want to say we're taking them lightly, because we know we need every game to get into the playoffs," Iverson said. "We're just not getting it done."